Assessing the impact of understory vegetation cut on soil epigeic macrofauna from a cork-oak Montado in South Portugal

Bayer

2016

Pesq. agropec. bras.

Resumo -O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar, em experimento de longa duração, a fauna edáfica e os atributos microbiológicos de um Argissolo Vermelho sob sistemas de cobertura em plantio direto. O trabalho foi realizado em Eldorado do Sul, RS, após 27 anos de implantação de experimento para avaliação dos seguintes sistemas de cultivo: A/M, aveia/milho; E/M, ervilhaca/milho; AE/M, aveia-preta + ervilhaca/milho; AE/MC, aveia-preta + ervilhaca/milho + feijão-caupi; e L/M, lablab/milho. Utilizou-se o delineamento de blocos ao acaso com três repetições. As amostragens da fauna edáfica, realizadas por armadilhas "pitfall", e dos atributos microbiológicos foram feitas no pós-manejo das coberturas, na primavera; durante o ciclo do milho, no verão; na pós-colheita do milho, no outono; e durante o ciclo das coberturas, no inverno. A inclusão de leguminosa em consórcio ou em sucessão de coberturas promoveu a ocorrência de organismos da fauna edáfica e aumentou C e N da biomassa microbiana, o que favoreceu o potencial de ciclagem e a disponibilidade de nutrientes. O sistema A/M de cobertura com gramíneas favoreceu as ordens Diptera, Hemiptera e Diplopoda. De forma geral, no plantio direto, os melhores sistemas de cobertura são os que incluem leguminosa.Termos para indexação: bioindicadores, biomassa microbiana, consórcio de coberturas, organismos edáficos, plantio direto, qualidade do solo. Fauna and microbial attributes of an Ultisol under cover crop systems in the South of BrazilAbstract -The objective of this work was to evaluate, in a long-term experiment, the fauna and microbiological attributes of an Ultisol under no-tillage cover crop. The study was carried out in Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil, after 27 years of implantation of an experiment evaluating the following crop systems: O/C, oat/corn; V/C, vetch/corn; OV/C, oat + vetch/corn; OV/CP, oat + vetch/corn + cowpea; and L/M, lablab/corn. A randomized complete block design was used, with three replicates. Samplings of fauna, performed with pitfalls, and of microbiological attributes were done after cover crop management, in spring; during corn crop cycle, in summer; after corn crop harvest, in autumn; and during cover crop cycle, in winter. The inclusion of legume intercropped or in succession to cover crops promoted the occurrence of edaphic fauna and increased microbial biomass C and N, which favored cycling potential and nutrient availability. The O/C cover crop system with grasses favored the Diptera, Hemiptera, and Diplopoda orders. Overall, the best cover crop systems under notillage are those with legume inclusion.

Section: Resultsunclassified

Fauna e atributos microbiológicos de um Argissolo sob sistemas de cobertura no Sul do Brasil

Bayer

2016

Pesq. agropec. bras.

Journal of Applied Ecology

“…Besides its value for birds, the creation of this heterogeneous mosaic would enhance the conservation of all Mediterranean forest biota, including plants (Porto, Correia & Beja 2011; Santana et al. 2011), invertebrates (Mendes et al. 2011; Verdasca et al.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This landscape mosaic could be created by retaining patches unmanaged for long periods (>50 years) interspersed in a matrix where fuel treatments are carried out regularly (<10 years; Santana et al 2011). Besides its value for birds, the creation of this heterogeneous mosaic would enhance the conservation of all Mediterranean forest biota, including plants (Porto, Correia & Beja 2011;Santana et al 2011), invertebrates (Mendes et al 2011;Verdasca et al 2012) and top predators (Palma, Beja & Rodrigues 1999;Palma et al 2006) and their prey (Beja, Pais & Palma 2007). Furthermore, this strategy should help to reduce fire hazard at the landscape scale (Loehle 2004;Lehmkuhl et al 2007), which is a primary goal of forest management in the region (Pausas et al 2008;Moreira et al 2011).…”

Section: A N a G E M E N T I M P L I C A T I O N Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Long‐term responses of Mediterranean birds to forest fuel management

Santana

Porto

Gordinho

et al. 2012

Summary1. Mechanical management of forest fuels is increasingly used in the Euro-Mediterranean region in response to the abandonment of traditional agroforestry and the concurrent increase in fire hazard. Although fuel management may have positive side effects for biodiversity, its long-term impacts remain largely unknown. 2. We used a 70-year post-management chronosequence to investigate the influence of time since fuel management and management frequency on bird assemblages in cork oak Quercus suber forests. 3. Fuel management strongly affected bird species richness, abundances and assemblage composition, with rapid changes often occurring during the first 10-20 years, followed in the next decades by a slow convergence to pre-management levels. 4. In winter, overall species richness and abundance, and that of frugivores and shrub foragers, were negatively affected by recent and recurrent management, only recovering in stands unmanaged for >50 years. In spring, insectivore abundance and the richness and abundance of shrub foragers declined immediately following management, increased to a maximum about 20 years later, and declined thereafter. Breeding granivores and ground foragers were the only groups that benefitted from fuel management. There were no overall effects on species of conservation concern, although a few species with unfavourable status benefitted from fuel management. 5. Synthesis and applications. Our study confirmed that mechanical fuel management has positive effects on some early-successional bird species of conservation concern, although its effects were limited. These benefits should be compared with the strong negative impacts on key bird species such as wintering frugivores, which play a pivotal role in ecosystems by promoting seed dispersal. To reconcile the positive and negative aspects, fuel management should be used to create heterogeneous mosaics of forest patches encompassing a range of sizes (10-100 ha) and successional stages of understorey vegetation, including stands undisturbed for >50 years. This management strategy will likely maintain conditions for a wide range of species with contrasting ecological requirements while also reducing fire hazard.

“…As stated in the last International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) assessment report [5], mean annual temperature has been rising while precipitation has been decreasing, in the Mediterranean region, for the past decades foreseeing a higher frequency of extreme drought and rainfall events. The impact on water resources is causing the lowering of groundwater levels which consequently has a negative effect on cork oak growth since it relies on deep rooting to access the groundwater table [6]. Additionally, Tiberi et al [7] have reported that insect pests and plant pathogens may act synergistically with both mismanagement and adverse climatic factors accelerating the onset of decline.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessing the Use of Sentinel-2 Time Series Data for Monitoring Cork Oak Decline in Portugal

2019

In Portugal, cork oak (Quercus suber L.) stands cover 737 Mha, being the most predominant species of the montado agroforestry system, contributing to the economic, social and environmental development of the country. Cork oak decline is a known problem since the late years of the 19th century that has recently worsened. The causes of oak decline seem to be a result of slow and cumulative processes, although the role of each environmental factor is not yet established. The availability of Sentinel-2 high spatial and temporal resolution dense time series enables monitoring of gradual processes. These processes can be monitored using spectral vegetation indices (VI) as their temporal dynamics are expected to be related with green biomass and photosynthetic efficiency. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) is sensitive to structural canopy changes, however it tends to saturate at moderate-to-dense canopies. Modified VI have been proposed to incorporate the reflectance in the red-edge spectral region, which is highly sensitive to chlorophyll content while largely unaffected by structural properties. In this research, in situ data on the location and vitality status of cork oak trees are used to assess the correlation between chlorophyll indices (CI) and NDVI time series trends and cork oak vitality at the tree level. Preliminary results seem to be promising since differences between healthy and unhealthy (diseased/dead) trees were observed.